The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism

Introduction

Adele Berlin, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism: Revised + Expanded (Grand Rapids: Michigan: Eerdmans, 2008).

"Understanding of biblical poetry is enhanced by the study of its structure. In this book Adele Berlin analyzes parallelism, a major feature of Hebrew poetry, from a linguistic perspective... showing it to be a system of forces that combine to give biblical poetry its special powers of communication." "For anyone interested in the linguistic analysis of biblical poetry, this new edition of The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, twenty-two years after its first run, promises to contribute to the current renascence in the study of Hebrew poetry studies, just as it did during the renascence in the 1970s."

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Summary

The central concepts of the book are:

• Parallelism involving equivalences and/or contrasts
• Aspects: Aspects are the different areas of linguistics that can be activated by a parallelism. The four linguistic aspects covered are (1) the grammatical aspect (including both morphology and syntax), (2) the lexical aspect, (3) the semantic aspect, and (4) the phonological aspect.
• Levels: Levels "specify how much of the textual structure is involved-in most cases either the word or the line or the clause". (p. 27)

According to Berlin,

"Parallelism, then, consists of a network of equivalences and/or contrasts involving many aspects and levels of language. Moreover, by means of these linguistic equivalences and contrasts, parallelism calls attention to itself and to the message which it bears. Parallelism embodies the poetic function, and the poetic function heightens the focus on the message." (p. 141)

Outline

1. Parallelism and Poetry

• Parallelism and Poetry in Biblical Studies
• Parallelism and Poetry in Linguistic Studies

2. The Linguistic Study of Biblical Parallelism

3. The Grammatical Aspect

• Morphological Parallelism
• Syntactic Parallelism

4. The Lexical and Semantic Aspects

• The Lexical Aspect: Word Pairs
• The Relation between the Lexical and the Semantic Aspects
• Lexical, Grammatical, and Semantic Patterning
• The Semantic Aspect

5. The Phonological Aspect: Sound Pairs

• What is a Sound Pair
• Sound Pairs and Word Pairs
• Sound Pairs Which are Not Word Pairs
• The Effect of Sound Pairs on Parallelism
• The Patterning of Sound Pairs
• Appendix: Sound Pairs in A Midsummer Night's Dream

6. Parallelism and the Text

• The Variety of Parallelisms
• Perceptibility and Interestingness
• The Effect of Parallelism

Key Concepts

"Seams"

The history of the Psalter's composition is complex. For Wilson and others, it probably involved the compiling of already-existing mini collections of Psalms into one single collection. The following list presents, by way of example, several "individual pss collections which were subsequently brought together in the final redaction of the Psalter" (5):

• Psalms of Ascents
• Korahite Psalms
• Asaphite Psalms
• YHWH reigns Psalms
• Hallelujah Psalms

This complex history would have limited the freedom of the editor(s), who were working not just with individual psalms, but with already existing collections of psalms. For that reason, editorial activity is most likely to be detected at the seams between psalm collections.

"A key question which arises is: What indications are there of editorial efforts to combine and unify these originally unrelated groupings of pss? In this regard, it will be most important to look closely at the 'seams' between the collections where editorial activity should be most evident" (5). For Wilson, the most important "seams" are those which join the five 'books' of Psalms. "To discover the editorial purpose behind the Psalter arrangement one must begin by looking at the pss which mark the seams between the books" (209).

Key Arguments

Editorial Movement

Wilson argues that there was "an editorial movement to bind the whole (Book of Psalms) together" (4).

===
    title: Editorial movement
===
[Editorial movement]: There was "an editorial movement to bind the whole (Book of Psalms) together" (4).
 + <Comparative Evidence>: Based on the "study of the Mesopotamian and Qumran Pss texts, and the editorial /organizational technique and concern demonstrated there, one is almost prepared to find similar technique and concern at work in the organization of the canonical Hebrew Psalter" (139).
 + <Internal Evidence>: "There is evidence within MT 150 itself of an editorial movement to bind the whole together" (4).
  + <Explicit elements>: "Explicit statements attached to the pss" (i.e., superscriptions) are used "to assist in the organization of the MT 150" (182).
   + [Superscriptions]: Author changes are used to "mark strong disjunctions" (157), while genre-groupings "are used... to bind together and to 'soften' the transition between groups of pss" (167).
    + [Author to divide]: E.g., "with the opening of Book Two (42/3) we have an abrupt change of authorship (from David) to the 'Sons of Qorah'" (157).
    + [Genre to bind]: E.g., at the point of transition from the Asaphite collection (73-83) to the second Qorahite psalms (84-88), "there are four consecutive psalms (82-83 Asaphite; 84-85 Qorahite) which bear the term *mizmor* in their superscriptions" (164).<!--
   + [Untitled pss]: Sometimes the absence of a superscription represents "an intentional editorial method to indicate a tradition of the combination of the 'untitled' psalm with its immediate predecessor" (173).
    + [Pss 9-10]: E.g., Ps. 10 is untitled, and there is a strong tradition of the combination of Pss 9-10, which (as the acrostic pattern suggests) may be original.-->
  +  <Non-explicit elements>: Several non-explicit elements, such as the concluding doxologies and the arrangement of *hallelujah-hodu* psalms, "clearly function editorially in MT 150" (182).
   + [Doxologies]: Doxologies occur at the end of each 'book' of Psalms (Bk I: 3-41; Bk II: 42-72; Bk III: 73-89; Bk IV: 90-106; Bk V: 107-150).
   + [Hallelujah/hodu psalms]: "The *hallelujah* pss conclude segments" while "the *hodu* pss which follow introduce the next segment of pss" (190).
    + [Pss 104-107]: E.g., *Hallelujah* pss (104-106) conclude Book IV, and a *hodu* ps (107) introduces Book V.

Editorial movement

Editorial Purpose

The editorial movement to bind the Book of Psalms together had a purpose behind it. The Psalter in its final form is designed to communicate a message. As Wilson puts it, "the final form of MT 150 is the result of a purposeful, editorial activity which sought to impart a meaningful arrangement which encompassed the whole" (199). "The message is that "YHWH is eternal king, only he (vs a temporary human king) is ultimately worthy of trust" (228).

===
    title: Editorial purpose
===
[Editorial purpose]: The Psalter's message is that "YHWH is *eternal* king, only *he* (vs a temporary human king) is ultimately worthy of trust" (228).
 + <Books I-III (Problem)>: Books I-III set up a problem: the Davidic covenant, which was established (Ps 2), relied upon (Ps 41), passed down (Ps 72), has failed (Ps 89).<!--
  + [Ps 2]: In the first ps of Book I, YHWH makes a covenant with David.
  + [Ps 41]: In the last ps of Book I, David rests secure in the covenant promises.
  + [Ps 72]: In last ps of Book II, the covenant is passed on to David's descendants.
  + [Ps 89]: In the last ps of Book III, the covenant fails. -->
 + <Book IV (Answer)>: Book IV, "the editorial 'center' of the final form of the Hebrew Psalter.. stands as the 'answer' to the problem": YHWH is our king and refuge, whether or not there is a human monarch (215).
  + [Book IV as center]: Book IV is "the editorial 'center' of the final form of the Hebrew Psalter" (215).
   + Book IV contains a "high portion of 'untitled' pss (13/17)" which "enjoyed relative freedom from the earlier collection processes characterized by the categorizing reflected in the superscriptions" (214-215).
  + [Book IV's message]: Book IV celebrates YHWH's kingship and decries human weakness.
   + [E.g., "YHWH reigns"]: The proclamation "YHWH reigns" echoes throughout Book IV (e.g., Pss 92-93, 96-99
   + [E.g., Ps 90]: In Ps 90, "the emphasis is placed upon YHWH as Israel's place of security 'in all generations' (90:1) in contrast to the transient authority of the monarchy" (215).
 + <Book V>: Book V is a message to the exiles that "deliverance and life thereafter is dependent on an attitude of dependence and trust in YHWH alone" (227).
  + [E.g., Ps 146]: At the opening of the final hallel (Ps 146:3-6), "David the king bows to the kingship of YHWH and denies the efficacy of temporary human rulers" (227).

Editorial purpose

Key Evidence

• Hebrew Psalms
  • The Canonical Hebrew Psalter (MT-150)
    • superscriptions (author/genre designations)
    • concluding doxologies
    • hallelujah/hodu pss
  • Qumran Psalms manuscripts
• Mesopotamian hymnic literature
  • The Sumerian Temple Hymn collection
  • Mesopotamian Catalogues of Hymnic Incipits

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Impact

The impact of this book on the modern history of Psalms research can hardly be overstated. Wilson, perhaps more than any other individual, helped to steer scholarship away from its focus on form criticism and cult-functional crticism into the relatively uncharted waters of editorial criticism. The following statements are typical:

• "The publication of The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter in 1985 inaugurated a new era in the study of the book of Psalms."
• "The publication of Gerald H. Wilson's The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter in 1985 marked a distinct shift in approaches to Psalms research."
• "The major and marked contrast in psalms studies between 1985 and today is certainly due in part, perhaps in large part, to Gerald Wilson's The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter."

Important ideas

• Editorial activity to bind the whole Psalter together
• Purpose and meaning behind the Psalter's arrangement
• The function of superscriptions to group psalms
• Editorial activity at the seams
• Significance of the Davidic Covenant to the Psalter's message
• Psalm 1 as an introduction
• The Psalter as a book for pious meditation rather than liturgical recitation
• The role of hallelujah/hodu psalms to conclude/begin segments
• The use of untitled psalms to indicate different traditions for joining psalms
• "The climactic placing of Psalm 145"

Critique

• Critique of first argument. Wilson's argument for an "an editorial to bind the whole (Book of Psalms) together" (4) has been widely accepted. Still, some scholars (e.g., Norman Whybray) disagree with this conclusion. David Willgren argues that the very notion of the Psalter as a 'Book' needs to be reconsidered.
• Critique of second argument. Whereas Wilson understands the Psalter to portray the Davidic Covenant as a relic of Israel's past - for the future, Israel must look to YHWH and not to a Davidic king - other scholars, such as David Mitchell and Peter Ho have argued that the Psalter's message is eschatological, anticipating the arrival of a new Davidic king.